LLG in London: A week of, well eating really…

Well, that was a frantic week. But one which contains cake and afternoon tea could never be a bad one. My friend Anne came round to my flat for lunch on Friday, the day afterwards, and as an antidote to all that sugar, I made us a variation on my Tom Yum soup, which we poured over steamed pak choy, with a plate of bean sprouts to add in, and lime quarters to squeeze over it all. Dairy and carb-free, packed full of vitamins and protein, and really filling. An excellent January dish.

There was also delicious food on Wednesday for a work lunch at Nopi. It’s Yotam Ottolenghi’s restaurant in the West End, and the food is utterly delicious. We took the sharing plate option, and ordered five or six plates.

Mmmm…this was the burrata and clementines. The sharpness of citrus, the sweetness of the syrup and the creaminess of the cheese is wonderful together. Perfectly judged.

I took my mother to Nopi for dinner last year, and the bill was a bottom-clenching £90, with just one aperitif & a glass of wine between us. The food is absolutely delicious, but it *was* a LOT of money to pay for what is essentially posh composed salads, with the odd fritter. (There are traditional main courses too, if you want to eschew the sharing plate route.)

There was also a pre-ballet supper hosted by ESPA in the private room at the Oyster Bar at Massimo, in the Corinthia Hotel on Wednesday evening. I do like the Corinthia: it always feels like an event there, a proper old school grand hotel with a 21st century twist, and the food is great in all their restaurants. (I had a memorably good meal in Northall, the flagship restaurant last year with Rachel.)

I’ve spent the weekend in somewhat less glamorous pursuits: back to the chiropractor on Saturday morning for spine cracking, lots of blog work & email, and a grand clearing out and cleaning of the kitchen cupboards. How can I have ended up with two Panettone, three unopened jars of Marmite, and a mountain of new packets of tea?

Saturday night however was a lovely early supper with Miss P & her family in Highbury: I got to read lovely Godson no2, Edward, his nightly chapter of Dr Doolitle, from my childhood copy which I gave him at Christmas.

My sister isn’t feeling great at the moment, so I collected Posetta Baddog to take her for a trot on Primrose Hill on Saturday – wearing her lovely Woof! Markus Lupfer for Whistles sweater. (Now reduced to £25 in the sale, I saw today.)

And then there was some downtime:

So I am doing well on at least one of my new year’s resolutions, which was to have a social life, and see more of my friends.

Instagram Slider

Letty can't decide what to eat either on the delicious menu @rotorino #rotorino

The beautiful set at SHOWstudio for the filmed @Gucci discussion panel I took part in on Weds. (I love the white muscari and narcissi) The edited conversation is now up at SHOWstudio.com Thank you @showstudio_nick_knight

Baking (& nibbling) chocolate chip cookies for a meeting, using my own recipe from #friendsfoodfamily, which is very, very chocolate-y. (And the dough freezes beautifully which is super handy - I often make a double batch, half now & half for later)